Last week Jin Ho Verdonschot & Frances Singleton-Clift went to the Royal Courts of Justice to meet with Lord Justice Briggs and discuss the changing face of ODR in the British legal system. As I am sure many of you are aware, Lord Briggs is in charge of the implementation of Richard Susskind’s recommendations in his eponymous report on ODR within the UK legal system. Lord Briggs has long been an advocate of the need for change within our modern legal systems. They are confusing, arduous proceedings, often incurring costs vastly at odds with the sums of money being argued over. In fact, citizens with every reason to resport to court will oftentimes avoid legal proceedings altogether as the potential debt and hassle are so offputting. This is not how things should be. ODR provides a tangible way in which the courts can revolutionise access to justice. It reduces costs, complexity, and levels the playing field for all involved and for this reason is at the heart of the changes we will be seeing in the British legal system. Lord Briggs will shortly be sharing his initial plans to make good on this change (a remarkable achievement given his full time judging schedule and the small number of helpers putting these recommendations together). Inevitably, the proof is always in the pudding, but the changes going on right now have, unusually, the support of both the UK government and the judiciary. Given the fascinating talk we shared last week, we have every reason to believe this will be a success and act as a catalyst for many other countries to follow suit.
The 15th ODR conference, 23-24 May 2016, The hague 